Esther Vilar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esther Vilar (born September 16, 1935) is a German writer born in 1935 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She wrote the book The Manipulated Man (1971) and its follow-up The polygamous sex (1976). She trained and practised as a medical doctor originally.
The Manipulated Man was quite popular at the time of it's release, in part due to the considerable press coverage it received. The author Esther Vilar also appeared on The Tonight Show to discuss the book. Controversy surrounding the book's main tenets led to the author receiving death threats in connection with them. In fact, comparative to Salman Rushdie's experience, she has reported that she has received decades of scorn:
So I hadn't imagined broadly enough the isolation I would find myself in after writing this book. Nor had I envisaged the consequences which it would have for subsequent writing and even for my private life - violent threats have not ceased to this date.
- Esther Vilar, August 1998
The main idea behind the book is that women are not oppressed by men, but rather control men in a relationship that is to their advantage but which most men are not aware of.
Some of the strategies described in her books are:
- Lure men with sex, using Seduction Strategies. As her famous quote goes:
"Men have been trained and conditioned by women, not unlike the way Pavlov conditioned his dogs, into becoming their slaves. As compensation for their labours men are given periodic use of a woman's vagina."
- Use praise to control men by administering it carefully.
- Use children as hostages to control men.
Whether one agrees with her views or not both books are entertaining, and in the first especially Esther Vilar argues her case well, and with a detail that seems to show that her views are honestly held. A revised version of the book is currently in print. Her play Speer (1998) is a work of fictional biography about the German architect and has been staged in Berlin and London, directed by and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer. She has also written many other books and plays, but most have not been translated into English.
[edit] Selected works
- Vilar, Esther (1998). The Manipulated Man. Pinter & Martin. ISBN 0-9530964-2-4.
- Vilar, Esther (1976). The polygamous sex: A man's right to the other woman. W. H. Allen. ISBN 0-491-01737-5.
- Vilar, Esther (1998). Speer. Transit. ISBN 3-88747-128-8. (play)
- Vilar, Esther (1982). El discurso inaugural de la papisa americana(The inaugural address of the American papess). Lectorum. ISBN 84-02-09008-7.
